the rub
noun
formal
: something that causes a difficulty or problem
She's an amazing cook, but she rarely has time to make meals. There's the rub.
Therein/There lies the rub.
Examples of the rub in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Use a spice grinder to blitz the mushrooms before mixing them with the rub ingredients to create a paste consistency.
—
Lynda Balslev, Mercury News, 16 Apr. 2025
There’s the rub: in moving from the narrowly religious to the broadly aesthetic, mysticism is both generalized and marginalized.
—Simon Critchley, Harper's Magazine, 23 Sep. 2024
But here was the rub: These burgeoning stars, with millions of followers, were all minors.
—Katie Kilkenny, HollywoodReporter, 9 Apr. 2025
But here's the rub at tax time: The EV tax credit belongs to the lessor, not the driver who agreed to lease the car or truck.
—Susan Tompor, USA Today, 27 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for the rub
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Lynda Balslev, Mercury News, 16 Apr. 2025
There’s the rub: in moving from the narrowly religious to the broadly aesthetic, mysticism is both generalized and marginalized.
—Simon Critchley, Harper's Magazine, 23 Sep. 2024
But here was the rub: These burgeoning stars, with millions of followers, were all minors.
—Katie Kilkenny, HollywoodReporter, 9 Apr. 2025
But here's the rub at tax time: The EV tax credit belongs to the lessor, not the driver who agreed to lease the car or truck.
—Susan Tompor, USA Today, 27 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for the rub
Cite this Entry
“The rub.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20rub. Accessed 1 May. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share